Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 16
By Maksim Tsurkov - Trend:
A British company Nobel Oil Services UK Ltd. will open its first filling station in Romania this week, said Michael Wring, the company's CEO, speaking to Trend on Nov. 16.
He said that currently the company has seven strands of business activities; and one of them focuses on the trading of petrochemicals.
"This is a new direction in our work. One of the primary strategic objectives of the company's development is diversification of our activities. Entering into Romanian market is an important step towards successful implementation of this strategy. Last year Nobel Oil Downstream Romania was established in Bucharest." he said.
"This year we started putting things into practice, and we are already at the first stage of the project," added Mr. Wring.
He said that the company intends to develop a network of filling stations in the years to come, covering most of Romania.
"The first stage of the project should be completed before April 2016, when we expect four or five filling stations to operate," he said.
"We will monitor the efficiency and commercial viability of the project, and if the first stations prove to be successful, we will continue investing in construction of new filling stations," he said. "Our intension is to build up to 90 filling stations within four years."
Wring noted that the first filling station in Romania will open on Nov.19.
"Our first station has already been built to the highest standards ," he said. "It is a great achievement, and we are proud of our team in Romania."
In line with the company's corporate social responsibility principles, photovoltaic panels are installed on a rooftop, allowing the filling station to function on green energy.
"Currently, we have no plans to develop a network of filling stations in Azerbaijan," said Mr. Wring.
"A while ago we were also considering the possibilities of entering Turkish or Ukrainian markets," he said. "But then we decided to focus on Romanian market as the most promising one."
"In the future we might have to think about other Balkan destinations. However, at the initial stage, we will focus on Romania only," Wring said.